Andrew is a KINDERGARTENER, so of course, that is the big news around here. Life is a whole lot different for him. Here is how his day goes. He wakes up usually anywhere from 6:30-7:30. He spends some time chatting with us and playing with Logan and then eats breakfast. He likes a few kinds of cereal or else it’s eggs or maybe some rice or whatever leftovers we have. His favorite is probably ramen or soba or some kind of Asian noodle. He sometimes has some time to play in the morning, building train tracks or reading books. He gets dressed, does his breathing medicine, and brushes his teeth. Usually we try to get in some scriptures and prayer before he gives me hugs and kisses and grabs his backpack and lunch. Katsu and Andrew leave the house around 8:15 and walk to his elementary school, which is .3 miles away and actually abutting Katsu’s train station (though he has to walk the long way around). Katsu drops him off at the front door around 8:25 and school starts at 8:40.
Andrew’s kindergarten teacher is wonderful. She has been teaching kindergarten for 29 years! And she is just the quintessential kindergarten teacher, kind, loving, guiding the students along the way. Full day kindergarten feels long and I miss Andrew a lot, but I know they have a very well planned day.
Andrew’s schedule:
8:20-8:40 Arrival Task
8:40-8:55 Pledge/Announcements/Morning Meeting
8:55-9:55 Reading Workshop
10:00-10:30 Recess/Restroom/Snack
10:30-11:30 Writing Workshop
11:30-12:10 Recess/Lunch
12:10-12:30 Cozy-In (Read Aloud/Rest)
12:30-1:20 Math Workshop
1:20-2:20 Special Classes(PE/Art/Music/Library)
2:20-3:10 Workshop (Social Studies/Science/Centers)
3:10-3:25 Friendship Circle/End-of-Day Meeting
3:25-3:35 Dismissal
So, Andrew has 2 recesses a day as well as PE everyday. They have one long Art time and one short Art class each week as well as weekly (or more often) music and library time. They have lots of centers they can meet at, but Andrew almost always goes to one – the craft center. He is very busy making books; his books right now are about volcanoes. He is also making books about volcanoes at home.
Andrew brings his lunch from home. He brings the same things almost every day – water, pizza pockets (sausage, cheese, and mushrooms) or fried rice (ham, carrots, onions, green onions, peas), chocolate pudding, fruit, baby carrots. There is usually a little note in there from Mom, too.
Andrew seems to really enjoy school. He is making lots of friends and seems genuinely happy to be there – but I know he looks forward to having lots of play time on the weekends, though he does tell me more often that he “doesn’t play with toys anymore”, but he is way too little for that, in my book.
We pick Andrew up everyday at 3:30 at the blacktop in the back. About half the time, he and Seth play with other friends at the playground before we walk home. He has already had a play date with one friend and hopefully we will have more, though it seems like the time is so precious now since he is gone so much.
We are still working on his reading lessons, albeit much slower than before. He enjoys reading and is starting to read in other situations – signs, books he sees. It is still work to sound out, but I can tell that he is getting much better.
Andrew still loves to do crafts at home and has already gone through a couple of the markers I bought for him in July. His favorites this month were volcanoes and flags. We checked out almanacs and atlases from the library for him to copy the flag pictures from. He told me today that the United States is the best country ever – I asked why he thought so and he said because we did so well in the Olympics. Hard to argue on that point, though I did say there are lots of nice nations.
Andrew and Seth have seemed to play well since school started. After a grouchy first week, Andrew often comes home and him and Seth just play for an hour with their army, train tracks, cars, and blocks and Lincoln Logs and sometimes Trio. It makes me happy that they play so well together. He also loves to hear chapter books at night when he goes to bed. He is really into the ABC Mysteries series and I like that the chapters are so short!
Andrew started soccer. He wasn’t really into the idea, but we thought it would be good for him to give it a try. We didn’t sign him up for the rec league because half their games are on Sunday, but instead for the Preschool Soccer (for 4 and 5 year olds) because it is just 20 mins instruction/20 mins gametime each Saturday for 6 weeks. He went for the first time on Saturday and seemed to have a lot of fun and was excited to tell me all about how soccer works.
Andrew is a joy – I miss him, but he is loving school and growing up.
Fun Things This Month:
- School
- Snow Cone day – the first Friday of school, all the kids got to pick their own snow cone in the afternoon and ate outside. How fun.
- First day off – he spent most of the day at a friend’s house who isn’t in Kindergarten yet. It was fun to see them again.
- Play date – he even got to go home from school with his new friend from kindergarten. They played at his house and the park. How fun!
- Picture day.
- Swimming at the hotel on my birthday. A “party” with Dad when I stayed the night at the hotel – just the boys.
- Cardinal’s game on Labor Day. We took the train – which the boys loved – had tons of snacks, and watched the game. The Cardinals won, the game had some action, and it was a lot of fun.
- Starting soccer
- St. Louis Art Fair – the boys made lots of crafts, but I was most excited about the portfolio they made so Andrew can corral all his artwork into that. Much less mess.
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